Road project still a headache for Sea Change and ESCC

Despite its short length, the Queensway Gateway Road continues to be a major headache for Sea Change Sussex and its client, ESCC. The opening of the temporary link, originally expected in early 2021, is now mooted for August, while the original scheme may only come on stream in July or August 2023, almost seven years behind schedule. Nick Terdre reports.

Any hope that a firm date for opening Sea Change Sussex’s Queensway Gateway Road as originally envisaged would emerge at the South East Local Enterprise Partnership’s (Selep) Accountability Board meeting on 12 March was soon dashed due to the uncertainties surrounding the future progress of the project.

Instead the meeting decided that an update setting out a “clear delivery plan and associated milestones” should be provided to its meeting on 10 September.

And because of the risk that the project – a short road linking Queensway to the A21 just south of The Ridge – may not be delivered, it also ruled that an update should be given to Selep’s Strategic Board in June “to make them aware of the issues faced by the Project.”

According to the report to the board, the earliest the permanent solution could be operational is January 2022. Before Sea Change can undertake the works needed to finish the road as originally planned, it has to acquire the land over which the final stretch will run.

This is primarily the land on which Bartlett’s SEAT showroom stands. Sea Change is actually the freeholder of the land but Bartlett is understood to have a long-term sub-lease.

Two other adjacent parcels of land are required for the road, one of them currently occupied by Sainsburys, HOT understands.

CPO a last resort

If the negotiations with the parties occupying the land are unsuccessful, the report says, East Sussex County Council, on whose behalf the road is being built, will as a “last resort” consider a compulsory purchase order to acquire the land, a process which could delay completion by between six and 18 months – to as late as July or August 2023.

ESCC confirmed to HOT this week that a compulsory purchase process has not been initiated. HOT understands that the county council is reluctant to take this step as such a move could be vulnerable to legal challenge.

Instead, as the report says, “ESCC have clearly indicated to SCS that their preference is for SCS to continue to pursue acquiring the necessary land for the permanent connection by negotiation.”

Negotiations with Bartlett have been under way for years without an agreement being reached. This caused the project to stall, obliging ESCC last year to agree to an interim solution. While there is still no sign of a successful conclusion to negotiations, HOT understands that the county council is far from satisfied with Sea Change’s efforts and has suggested that if progress continues to falter, it should bring in an arbitrator to set the terms of an agreement.

The report acknowledges that there is a risk that the project may not be completed, in which case it will seek the return of its grant. “If it is not possible to deliver the final section of the permanent connection…steps may be taken by the Board and Accountable Body to recover the £10m LGF [Local Growth Fund] allocation to the Project from East Sussex County Council,” it warns.

Grant nearly spent

That pot is nearly empty, £9.63m having been spent by February on building the section of road from Queensway to where it now links into Whitworth Road, plus two roundabouts. As the estimated cost of the project has been increased to £12m, Sea Change has undertaken to provide the balance of £2m, and to cover any further cost overruns.

“If any cost increases are identified over the £12m budget currently available, these costs will be met by SCS,” the report says.

Sea Change originally intended to complete the project by March 2016. But the original planning permission was quashed following a legal challenge relating to air pollution.

After revisions were made to the projected air pollution levels – an exercise which also drew criticism – planning permission was again granted in January 2016, at which point Sea Change’s aim was to complete the road by the following November.

In the worst-case scenario, then, it may take the best part of seven years to implement a road a few hundred metres long.

Critical voices

This prospect has prompted criticism, though not from any elected representatives at either ESCC or Hastings Borough Council. ‘This is yet another appallingly mismanaged SeaChange project,” according to Andrea Needham,  spokesperson for Seachangewatch, which monitors Sea Change’s activities.

“Millions of pounds of public money have been poured into this unnecessary, environmentally destructive project. It beggars belief that SeaChange could be seven years late completing a 600-metre road.

“And as usual, not a single elected councillor of any party is willing to speak out about the lack of transparency and accountability of this company, and the tens of millions of pounds of public funds that have been wasted in our town on projects that have utterly failed to deliver the benefits promised.”

Some supporters are also unhappy with the state of affairs. Hippolyte Grigg, who lives in Park Wood Road, which runs off The Ridge close to Conquest Hospital, welcomes the project, the chief benefit of which he sees as relieving the time-consuming traffic congestion at Junction Road by allowing traffic on The Ridge to access the A21 via Queensway and the Queensway Gateway Road. He regretted Sea Change’s failure to meet targets and lack of responsibility. “They are accountable to the taxpayer and need reminding of that,” he told HOT.

The spokesman for the Park Wood Road residents’ association on this matter, Grigg also wants to see the local council get more involved. “HBC’s failure to push all parties to get the contract moving, given they are the planning authority and have councillors who could have been more proactive, is outrageous,” he said.

“It is a wonder that when one votes for a Councillor, at the end of the day they do nothing. They are voted in to make a difference, to get things done. All this has led to a feeling of frustration that this mismanagement is letting the people of Hastings down. It is sheer complacency on the part of HBC.”

Interim solution by August?

Meanwhile, according to the report, the interim solution for the road, linking it to the A21 via Whitworth Road and Junction Road, is expected to be “delivered and fully open to traffic by August 2021.”

However, this depends on various approvals and legal agreements being reached between Sea Change, ESCC and Highways England. Designs for the connection to the A21, which traffic consultants have prepared for Sea Change, are now being considered by Highways England and must be signed off before other required approvals can be sought.

The report envisages all necessary approvals and agreements being in place by the end of June, after which final construction work is expected to take a further four weeks, taking earliest start-up into August.

It may be necessary for the interim solution to stay in place for as long as 24 months, implying that the permanent scheme may not come on stream until August 2023, the report says.

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